He urged his followers not to judge other people.
Taking to his Instagram handle, he shared a photo of himself with the tag ”Proudly GAY”
He posted the photo and wrote;
"Appreciate others and #share only love we need to respect peoples choices not to judge them so lets practice jesus kind of love"
He said the picture was taken in London.
“If you laugh at me………………London 2004,” he wrote.
The details were released by Swiss lawyer Enrico Monfrini, who was contracted by the Federal Government in 1999 to trace the public fund looted by the late military head of state. He spoke exclusively with the British broadcasting giant.
Abacha, who ruled from 1993 to 1998, died in office in mysterious circumstances on June 6, 1998. According to the man hired to get the money back, an international treasure hunt spread over decades revealed that the former head of state stole billions of dollars through dubious methods, including directly withdrawing humongous cash from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for fictitious projects.
Although Monfrini had amassed huge Nigerian client base as a lawyer since the 1980s, working in coffee, cocoa and other commodities, he admitted that he was initially afraid to take up the task when he was recruited to get hold of the money stolen by Abacha.
When asked if he could find and block the money and arrange that the looted money be returned to Nigeria, he said he accepted the job, “but in fact, I didn’t know much about the work at that time. And I had to learn very quickly. So I did.”
Among many brazen methods used for accumulating colossal sums involved Abacha asking an adviser to make a request to him for money for a vague security issue. Monfrini said Abacha would then sign off the request, which the adviser would then take to the CBN, which often had no qualms handing out the money, often in cash. The aide would then take most of the loot to Abacha’s house – with some taken in dollar notes “by the truckload.”
This was just one way Abacha and his associates stole huge amounts of money. Other methods ranged from awarding state contracts to friends at highly inflated prices and then pocketing the difference and demanding foreign companies pay huge kickbacks to operate in the country. This went on for around three years until everything changed when Abacha died suddenly, aged 54.
Though Abacha died before spending the stolen billions, Monfrini said a few bank details served as clues as to where that money was stashed. “The documents showing the history of the accounts gave me a few links to other accounts,” he said.
Armed with the information provided by the Nigerian government at the time, the lawyer took the issue to the Swiss attorney general, leading to a breakthrough, after he argued successfully that the Abacha family and their associates formed a criminal organization that almost stole Nigeria blind. The attorney general issued a general alert to all the banks in Switzerland demanding that they disclose the existence of any accounts opened under the Abachas’ names and aliases.
“In 48 hours, 95% of the banks and other financial institutions declared what they had which seemed to belong to the family. Banks would deliver documents to the prosecutor in Geneva and I would do the job of the prosecutor because he didn’t have time to do it,” Monfrini told the BBC.
The success in Swiss banks uncovered a web of bank accounts all over the world. “We would find out on each account exactly where the money came from and/or where the money went to. Showing the ins and outs on these bank accounts gave me further information regarding other payments received from other countries and sent to other countries.
“So it was like a snowball. It started with a few accounts, and then a large amount of accounts, which in turn created a snowball effect indicating a huge international operation. Bank accounts and the documents that go with them talk a lot. We had so much proof of different money being sent here and there, Bahamas, Nassau, Cayman Islands – you name it,” the famous lawyer said.
Because the size of the Abacha network was massive, Monfrini said nobody seemed to understand how much work it entailed, as had to pay many people, many accountants, and many other lawyers in many countries to get to the heart of the matter. He disclosed that he had to agree on a commission of 4 per cent on the money sent back to Nigeria – a rate he insisted was comparably “very cheap.”
Unfortunately, as it turned out, finding the money turned out to be relatively quick in comparison to getting it returned to Nigeria. “The Abachas were fighting like dogs. They were appealing about everything we did. This delayed the process for a very long time.” Further delays came as Swiss politicians argued over whether the money would just be stolen again if it was returned.
While Monfrini wrote in 2008 that $508m found in the Abacha family’s many Swiss bank accounts was sent from Switzerland to Nigeria between 2005 and 2007, he added that the amount Switzerland had returned to Nigeria had reached more than $1bn by 2018. He lamented that other countries were slower to return the cash. “Liechtenstein, for instance, was a catastrophe. It was a nightmare.” But in June 2014, Liechtenstein did eventually send Nigeria $277m.
Six years later, in May 2020, $308m held in accounts based in the Channel Island of Jersey was also returned to Nigeria. This only came after the Nigerian authorities agreed that the money would be used, specifically, to help finance the construction of the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and the Abuja-Kano road.
But some countries are yet to return the loot. Monfrini said he is still expecting $30m, which he said is sitting in the UK, to be returned along with $144m in France and a further $18m in Jersey. On the whole, he said his work secured the restitution of just more than $2.4bn. “At the beginning, people said Abacha stole at least $4-$5bn. I don’t believe it was the case. I believe we more or less took the most, took a very large chunk, of what they had. They are not swimming in money like they used to do in the past.
“When I speak to my very many children about this case, I tell them I found money and I blocked the money, I persuaded the authorities to go after these people and get the money back to the country for the good of the Nigerian people. We did the job,” Monfrini told the BBC.
Since Abacha’s death, Nigeria has received $3.61 billion of the money looted by his military government with the latest being the $311m returned by the U.S. and the British dependency of Jersey. According to the anti-corruption agency Transparency International, the military ruler stole as much as $5 billion during his time in office, with Switzerland believed to have returned around $1bn over the last decade.
The aide was his Campaign Director General during the 2019 general elections and the in the Palace of Long Jan of Namu Chiefdom.
Addressing those present at the wedding, the lawmaker congratulated the couple and advised them to make good use of the ten million to either build or buy a house.
Adamu, who resided on Sadauki Road in Wusasa, Zaria, was charged with threat to life and attempted kidnapping.
The police prosecutor, Inspector Abdullahi Sarki, said Adamu, a mason and commercial motorcyclist, was arraigned on charges bordering on threat to life and attempt to kidnap, contrary to Section 247 of the Penal Code.
Sarki explained that on October 12, 2020, around 8pm, a businessman, Kenneth Chinanuife, of 11 Park Road, Sabon Gari, Zaria, came to the Federal Intelligence Bureau at Rigachikun, Kaduna.
According to him, Chinanuife reported that on October 8, 2020, he received a call from the defendant who threatened to kidnap him if he did not provide N1m.
He noted that the caller told him that he was a member of a kidnapping syndicate at Wusasa, Zaria.
“Our detectives traced and arrested Adamu in the process of collecting the money and N108,000 was recovered from him,” Sarki added.
Adamu pleaded guilty to the charges, as the prosecutor applied for summary trial.
The Chief Magistrate, Hajiya Zainab Garba, subsequently convicted him.
She said, “We should allow the law to take effect coupled with the fact that the offence is rampant in the society and the punishment will serve as a deterrent to others.
“I hereby sentence you to 14 years’ imprisonment without option of fine, pursuant to Section 247 (3) of the Penal Code and you have right of appeal within 30 days.” ,,
Punch Metro gathered that at least five workers had tested positive for the virus.
The laboratory is one of government-accredited facilities for coronavirus test in Lagos.
Sources who spoke to Punch correspondent said the management of the lab refused to fumigate the facility, adding that it had continued to expose other staff and the public to the virus.
It was learnt that there was confusion at the laboratory on Tuesday when the husband of one of the infected workers stormed the lab, accusing the management of nonchalance.
A source said owners of the medical centre on Wednesday asked a worker that tested positive for the virus to come to work.
The source said, “The issue is that most of the staff tested positive and they refused to disinfect the place. I am aware that five people who tested positive this week were asked to stay at home.
“But I discovered that one of those who tested positive was around today (Wednesday). She tested positive yesterday (Tuesday), but was asked to come to work so she could put another nurse through.
“Other workers that want to test, they are telling them it’s not possible, and that if they want to do it, they will pay 50 per cent of the price. The management has not mentioned that they will shut the place even if it is for a week or a few days for fumigation. What they did today (Wednesday) was just to change the working hours.”
Another source said that since the outbreak of the infection at the facility, the workers had been suspecting one another.
The source said, “Presently, many have tested positive and we’re still being mandated to come to work every day. In a matter like this, many people would have been in contact with those that tested positive and if we are not careful, we pray it does not go beyond what we don’t expect.
“This is making people to panic and it’s getting out of hand. Many people are sick; if the management can just fumigate this place for two days, we’ll be fine. We can’t just put our lives at risk for nothing. The whole place has not been fumigated since workers tested positive.
“The management knows what to do, they tested these staff. I just feel that maybe because of the money they generate from the COVID-19 test, they don’t want to shut down. Since workers tested positive, everybody is scared. We are suspecting one another because we don’t know who and who are now infected. I’m feeling sick now and I’m very sure that if I take the test, I might test positive and this can’t continue going on; we have families at home.”
The manager of the facility, Dr Belema Uduje, confirmed that some workers tested positive for the virus.
She, however, said the affected staff had been isolated.
In Niger State, no fewer than 50 persons were abducted in the early hours of Thursday when bandits attacked Bassa community in the Shiroro Local Government Area of the state.
Nine people were killed very early on Thursday during an attack by bandits on Sarki Sheme village in the Faskari Local Government Area of Katsina State.
In Taraba State, at least, 25 youths, who were coming from a wedding, were abducted along Wukari-Takum road.
Bandits also struck in three local government areas of Kaduna State, where they killed four persons, including two brothers.
In Delta State, gunmen killed five persons in the Warri South Local Government Area.
Chairman of the forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, made the disclosure in his address at a webinar organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, where the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine were discussed.
Governor, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Danladi Atu, said in a bid to take away fears and controversies surrounding the vaccines, “We – the Northern Governors – have agreed to take the first doses of the vaccines.”
In his presentation, Executive Director National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Faisal Shu’aibu, and Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi, a pioneer epidemiologist gave insight into the efficacy of the vaccines.
Shuaibu also disclosed that the projection is that 70 percent of Nigerians would be vaccinated over the period of two years, adding that the first phase is that 40 percent of the population would be vaccinated while in the second phase, 39 percent of the population is expected to be vaccinated.
Lamido, who is also a former foreign affairs minister during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, lamented that today, Nigerians are so blindfolded by hatred for the Fulani because of President Buhari’s bad governance, forgetting that not all Fulani even voted for and or like him.
Speaking to newsmen in Kano on Thursday, Lamido, who stated that the situation the country finds itself is pathetic and saddening, however, asked rhetorically where Nigeria is headed with people killing one another with no serious step being taken to arrest the situation.
He said: “Though a Fulani man, I did not vote for Buhari and our parties are completely different, but the Yoruba’s Tinubus, the Igbo’s Ngiges and the South-South’s Amaechis were the ones who firmly stood behind the president to win the election, not even the Fulani.
“Today, northerners and the Fulani race are not at peace. The insecurity created by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government has affected everyone; so to bully them (Fulani) and see them as Nigeria’s problem is like adding salt to injury.”
Lamido emphasised that there is nowhere a Fulani man is safe because of President Buhari’s failure and that amounts to dangerous move against an entire race because of a single person, which should not be.
“Nigerians should know that Fulani herders are very peaceful and enterprising people who pasture nature and live by nature. They are not violent and it is not right to castigate all other Fulani because Buhari failed.”
Lamido said it is high time leaders and elite shun parochial tendencies, adding that unless the Igbo, the Hausa, the Yoruba and other minority tribes bury their differences and believe in each other, no matter how small they are, Nigeria will be a forgotten entity.
The NCDC disclosed this on its official Twitter handle on Thursday.
“864 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria; FCT-129 Anambra-87 Rivers-82 Benue-80 Oyo-76 Plateau-61 Kaduna-54 Delta-51 Nasarawa-38 Kwara-36 Edo-32 Katsina-26 Kano-24 Taraba-18 Ogun-14 Sokoto-11 Gombe-10 Jigawa-7 Akwa Ibom-6 Cross River-6 Zamfara-5 Bauchi-5 Osun-4 Ekiti-2.”
Falana, in an interview with BBC, on Wednesday, said even a squatter could not be ejected and that is why on a daily basis, tenants were given quit notices by landlords or owners of properties.
According to him, a private citizen could not just wake up and say anybody should leave the community, as the rule of law must be embraced.
“Nobody can do that, not even the government because section 43 of the constitution says every citizen shall have the right to own and acquire properties in any parts of the country,” he said.
Falana said the campaign of the human rights community was that if one is born in a place, or has lived for not less than ten years in any part of the country, that person should be considered an indigene and be entitled to all the rights and privileges of the so-called indigenes of the state.
“So, for me, there is no way I can embrace anyone who has given quit notice to any group of people. We must stop the idea of criminal profiling. If anybody has committed an offence or a group of people has committed an offence, we must fish them out and have them tried under the law but you can’t wake up and say all Yoruba people, all Hausa people are criminals, all Igbo people are criminals. No, it is a fallacy of generalisation,” Falana said.
The human rights activist said the government must ensure that the lives of the citizens were secured, saying it is the abdication of the duty of the government that had made the Sunday Igbohos to be relevant in the society.
“That is why private citizens give quit notices to people from other parts of the country. It is not the right way to fight this problem. We need to have ranches, in Oyo State in particular. The largest abattoir in West Africa is located in Oyo State but the state government has not allowed the abattoir to function for the past nine years. Is that how to run a country?
“The scientific way of solving this problem has been abandoned. So, why would a Sunday Igboho not take over the government of that state? That is what is going on,” he added.
Falana stated that there were genuine fears and facts on ground that the lives and properties in that state and in many states of the country were not safe, saying that the government must remove the basis of this quit notice by ensuring that lives and property of every person in Nigeria in safe.
The pair also performed together at Cuppy’s charity event which held in Abuja in November that same year.
However, DJ Cuppy later revealed this year that Zlatan blocked her on social media.
During a recent feature on Soudcity’s ‘The Switch‘ show, Zlatan was quizzed on his lingering feud with the DJ.
In response, the singer left the audience stunned when he asked if Cuppy was an artiste. He also claimed he doesn’t know the DJ.
“Is that an artiste? I don’t know who that is,” Zlatan can be heard saying as the observers visibly expressed shock.
The singer’s reaction comes after he had opened up about the difficulties he had faced before his music incursion.
“Before fame, things were hard. I was doing bricklaying, cutting grass for people’s foundations, working in a cold room, gambling at game centres so I could earn a living. Now I’m Zlatan Ibile,” Zlatan had revealed.
Dozens of people witnessed the caning at Banda Aceh’s Tamansari city park. It’s the third time that Aceh, the only province in Indonesia to practice Shariah law, has caned people for homosexuality since the Islamic law was implemented in 2015 as a concession made by the government to end a long-running separatist rebellion.
The men, aged 27 and 29, were whipped across the back and winced with pain as a team of five enforcers wearing robes and hoods took turns, relieving one another after every 40 strokes.
The men were arrested in November after residents became suspicious and broke into their rented room where they were caught having s.e.x, said Heru Triwijanarko, Aceh’s acting Sharia police chief.
A source privy to the information confirmed the news saying, “They are many and not only Chibok girls alone; they are made up of a variety of women abducted by Boko Haram terrorists.”
It was that some parents had been contacted by government officials and may reunite with their loved ones in Maiduguri, Borno State, soon.
According to Daily Trust, some parents had been contacted by officials handling the girls and that they might be invited to Maiduguri on a later date.
A source indicated that Halima Ali is one of the girls believed to have escaped five years since the escape of her sister Maryam.
Halima was allegedly married off to a commander under the instruction of Abubakar Shekau a few months after their abduction from their boarding school in Chibok.
Her father, Ali Maiyanga, could not be reached for comment but a credible source said that friends and family members trooped to his house to congratulate the family on the good news.
When contacted, the Secretary, Chibok Parents Association, Lawal Zannah, said he had information that some of the girls had escaped but had not yet ascertained the number.
“We heard that some of our girls have escaped from the forest, but we are yet to get the details about their number,” Zannah said.
He described his attainment of the rank of Lieutenant General and Chief of Army Staff as historic.
Buratai, who made the disclosure during his official handover to Major General Ibrahim Attahiru at the Army Headquarters, said the Army will never remain the same after his exit.
According to him: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo almost retired me 21 years ago when I was a Major. My retirement after 40 years of Service is historic,hence, calls for gratitude”.
Thanking troops serving home and abroad Buratai insisted the Army will not remain the same owing to his transformational leadership and landmark achievements.
He added the Nigerian Army has been better positioned with intelligence gathering techniques and equipment.
He prided his administration will be remembered for improved professionalism, improved responsiveness to personnel welfare and responsiveness to Nigeria’s Democratic system.
An eyewitness said both vehicles had a head-on collision when the driver of the bus overtook another vehicle at a sharp bend.
The Kogi State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mr Solomon Agure, while confirming the accident, said three staff of the ceramics company died out of nine staff in the company’s vehicle.
He said the staff worked overnight and closed in the morning but unfortunately when their staff bus was taking them home, their vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle and three persons died on the spot. “Those that were injured were rushed to the hospital,” he said.
Abubakar who is the President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, spoke during the sensitisation programme on Covid-19 vaccine for Muslim Scholars and Imams in Nigeria, facilitated by the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency on Wednesday evening in Abuja.
Abubakar said, “I believe that we cannot force people to take vaccine. There are myths, people talk of conspiracy theories.
“I am not giving an answer to anything. If the vaccine is meant to kill us, will anybody wait for this Covid-19 vaccines before killing us? If anybody wants to kill us, there are millions and one ways to kill us. But I am not giving an answer to anything that the Covid-19 vaccine is this or that. The vaccines are free, we are not paying for the vaccine, it is your choice to take the vaccine.”
The Sultan, therefore urged participants at the programme to ask questions on storage capacity when the vaccine eventually comes into Nigeria.
At the event, the Executive Director of NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib, assured that Nigeria would rather not have vaccine than to bring in bad vaccine.
Giving the assurance, he informed that no vaccine would be brought into the country unless certified safe for use.
